Notification of the Award

I got a telephone call one day as I was in my lab saying, please stay by your phone, a call is coming in from the White House. Okay. And so, I stayed by my phone and a call came in from the White House. It was [John] Holdren, the science advisor to Obama, who told me that the president was awarding me the National Medal of Science and gave me a date and said I was expected in Washington for two days and I could bring my whole family.

Driving to the White House with Sidney Drell

There was an incredible event, and not many people know this story, but so when you get the National Medal of Science, there are about 10 of you who are getting the National Medal of Science in different areas, mathematics, astrophysics, all kinds. And we were all put up in one hotel. And the morning of the big event, they sent a bus, a small white bus from the White House to pick us all up. And we were driving to the White House. I was sitting next to Sid Drell, a physicist, and he was quite elderly and infirm. And when I left his daughter, Persis Drell, said, take care of my dad. And I promised I would. And as we were nearing the White House, I noticed smoke coming out of the engine by the driver, and I said, pull over, there's smoke. And the driver's saying, no, we're almost there. And I was really upset. And finally, he pulled over. I said, open that door. And he did. And I hustled. I hustled, Sid Drell off with me. And as we got out, flames were coming from the front of this thing.

Mila Pollock: So you saved not only you-

-but the whole crowd. And I needed a wheelchair for Sid Drell, and I got a wheelchair and everybody made it off the bus, and the bus was in flames. And at that point, all of the White House guards were running with their rifles. I mean, it was such an unbelievable scene, but nobody ever talked about it. It actually happened.

Meeting President Obama

But the event itself, it was lovely. And the president was eloquent, kind. And as I walked up on the stage, as I was being announced, and President Obama was at the top of the stairs, he came over and he put his arm around me and he said, how are you doing? I said, I'm very nervous and I'm not usually nervous about anything. And he said, well, put the biggest smile on your face that you can manage just like mine, and I'll be right next to you the whole time. It was wonderful.

Mila Pollock: It's actually, it's funny that you were nervous because by then you already met Clinton?

Oh, I met everybody, but this was different. This was somehow different. All the photographers were clicking in the background, and it was quite a scene.

Lucy Shapiro (b. 1940, New York City) is a developmental biologist and Professor Emeritus of Developmental Biology at Stanford University where she has been a faculty member since 1989. She held the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Chair in Cancer Research and served as director of the Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine. Dr. Shapiro’s lab has focused on studying Caulobacter crescentus, one of the simplest organisms that divides asymmetrically into different cell types, to uncover fundamental principles of developmental biology.

Dr. Shapiro received her Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Fine Arts from Brooklyn College in 1962, and her Ph.D. In Molecular Biology from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1966. In 1986, Shapiro moved to the Columbia University School of Medicine as the first female chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. Two years later, in 1989, Shapiro moved to Stanford University and founded the Department of Developmental Biology.

In the early 1990s, Dr. Shapiro became involved in policy work. She was invited to the White House to speak to President Bill Clinton and his Cabinet about the potential threats to the public posed by the increase in antibiotic resistance, emerging infectious diseases, and the possibility of bioterrorism. She then went on to serve as a scientific advisor to the Clinton administration and advisor on bioterrorism to the secretary of homeland security, Tom Ridge, and to the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice during the George W. Bush administration.

In addition to her research, Dr. Shapiro co-founded the anti-infectives discovery company Anacor Pharmaceuticals to develop new types of antibiotics and antifungals. This has resulted in the production of two FDA approved drugs; Kerydin, a treatment for toenail fungus and Crisaborole, to treat atopic dermatitis. Anacor Pharmaceuticals was acquired by Pfizer in May 2016. She also co-founded Boragen, an agricultural innovation company that merged with AgriMetis to form 5Metis, Inc, where she serves on the board. She also serves on the board of directors at GlaxoSmithKline and Pacific BioSciences, Inc.

Dr. Shapiro has received numerous awards including the National Medal of Science awarded by President Barack Obama, the Linus Pauling Medal, Dickson Prize in Science, Canada Gairdner International Award, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Excellence in Science Award, the Selman Waksman Award, the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, the Abbott Lifetime Achievement Award, the John Scott Award, and the Pearl Meister Greengard Prize.